Officially released back in summer of ‘98, the Mandrake Linux operating system promised a unique desktop experience for all fans of the famous KDE (K Desktop Environment) project. It promised a RPM (Red Hat Package Manager) Linux distribution that provided an eye-candy desktop environment, which was supposed to make its users extremely happyful.

Mandrake, Mandriva, Conectiva

A few years later, the distribution has been merged with Conectiva Linux, a Brazilian operating system, and renamed to Mandriva Linux, as it was developed and distributed by a French company named Mandriva.

Unfortunately, in summer 2011, Mandriva Linux was discontinued and most of its developers started a new project, called Mageia. In the mean time, the Mandriva spirit was not dead, and various members of its “still active” community joined their forces and created a new distribution, called OpenMandriva Lx.

Uses the KDE Plasma desktop environment

OpenMandriva Lx provides an open source, completely free, easy-to-use, powerful, out-of-the-box and modern Linux operating system that combines modern technologies with an attractive desktop environment, based on the latest version of the well known KDE Plasma Workspaces and Applications project.

Comes pre-loaded with top-notch apps

Because it’s a 100% community-driven Linux operating system, OpenMandriva Lx comprises only open source software and technologies, bringing some of the best tools that both regular and advanced Linux users require for their daily tasks.

For example, Dolphin is the default file manager, the default web browser is Mozilla Firefox, Amarok takes care of all your music collection, LibreOffice can be used for all your office needs, KMail is the default email client, VLC Media Player is used for movies, your photo collection can be viewed with Gwenview, and Kopete is the main app for those late night conversations with your friends and family.

The best operating system for workstations and office PCs

Being available in several languages, the OpenMandriva Lx distribution is one of the best operating system for workstations and office computers. Even if it doesn’t provide support for cloud computing, it comes with several useful utilities that will make your life much easier.

Distributed as 32-bit/64-bit Live DVDs

The latest NVIDIA, AMD and Intel graphics cards are well supported under the OpenMandriva Lx operating systems. OpenMandriva Lx is distributed as Live DVD ISO images, supporting both 64-bit and 32-bit architectures, that can be used without any installation, directly from a USB flash drive or a DVD disc.

When testing OpenMandriva Lx directly from a live media, please keep in mind that nothing will be saved when you will end your session and reboot the computer. To install OpenMandriva Lx on your PC or laptop, use the designated installer.

OpenMandriva Lx was reviewed by Marius Nestor, last updated on January 31st, 2015